North America - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 199

The lodge and reserve are run by the Société
des Etablissements de Plein Air (Sepaq), the
government-backed organization that manages
most of Québec's national parks and wildlife
reserves. There are any number of off-piste
tracks to explore, including one that links the
summit of Mont 780 with L'Epaule trail, which
opens out at a breathtaking spot overlooking the
Cap-Chat river valley and Frère-de-Nicol-Albert
mountain.
In the summer, the reserve is open for hiking
and mountain biking - with over 100km of forest
roads leading into the heart of the park you've
a good chance of seeing bald eagles, hawks and
falcons. If you go in winter, make sure you take
appropriate clothing. It's also a good idea to
check the conditions before you go (see website
details below): if the snow bulletin says it's going
to be cold, expect it to be very cold.

Guests staying at Chic Chocs
Mountain Lodge can explore the
Matane Wildlife Reserve on skis

264 eco chic in The mounTAinS
of QuéBec

Need to know The coach from Montr é al to Cap
Chat costs Can$138 return, not including local
taxes ( W www.orleansexpress.com), from where
you are collected for a three-hour journey by
snowcat along the forest track to the lodge. For
prices and reservations see W www.sepaq.com;
T [phone].

When you strap on your snow-shoes just outside
the changing rooms and see in the distance that
a 50m-high waterfall has frozen solid you know
you're in for a chilly day. Temperatures in the
Matane Wildlife Reserve can fall to below minus
20ºC, but the upside of enduring these extreme
winter conditions is snowfall that can reach up
to 8m a year. And there can be few more stylish
places from which to get the most out of the
snow than Chic Chocs Mountain Lodge, just
outside the Chic Chocs mountain range in the
east of Québec.
The lodge is perched discreetly on a hillside
overlooking the reserve, and offers direct ski-
in ski-out access to this 60-square-kilometre
adventure playground. And the great bonus is
that guests of the lodge have exclusive use of
the reserve, so the only contact you're likely to
have is glimpses of moose, caribou and white-
tailed deer. Although snow-shoes are the most
convenient way of getting around, the more
adventurous can take to alpine skis or even try
telemark skis with in-built skins that allow you
to trek uphill and ski (albeit slowly) downhill
- perfect if you want to enjoy the downhill forest
tracks at a gentle pace.

265 Log off in A Log cABin,
cAnAdA

If you like the idea of hiding away in the
mountains but would like a few creature
comforts while you're there, Nipika's log cabins
have pretty much all you could wish for. Situated
in the south of the Rockies 260km from Calgary
and 110km from Banff, Nipika has a main lodge,
which sleeps thirteen, or a set of smaller cabins,
sleeping between two and six. Private and snug
with deep sofas and cosy wooden beds, all the
accommodation has huge fireplaces, barbecues
for summer dining and of course sweeping views
of the mountainous backdrop.
The owners also run a sustainable timber-
felling operation in the forests that cover much